5.  The applicant was born in 1989 and lives in İzmir. He is a homosexual. He is currently serving a prison sentence in Eskişehir Prison.
In 2009 a number of sets of criminal proceedings were instituted against the applicant for, inter alia, forgery of documents, deception, credit-card fraud and misrepresentation on official documents. On 2 June 2009 the Karşıyaka Assize Court sentenced him to one year and eight months’ imprisonment at his first trial. The applicant appealed to the Court of Cassation. The case is apparently still pending before that court. On 28 December 2009 the İzmir Assize Court, for its part, sentenced the applicant to ten years, three months and twenty-two days’ imprisonment for committing the offences referred to above more than once. The applicant appealed to the Court of Cassation against that judgment as well. The appeal is still pending.
6.  On 24 October 2008 the applicant went to the Çiğli police station in İzmir and confessed to committing a series of offences, such as forgery of documents, deception, credit-card fraud and misrepresentation on official documents. He was subsequently remanded in custody by a justice of the peace and taken to Buca Prison in İzmir.
7.  At Buca the applicant was first placed in a shared cell with heterosexual inmates.
8.  On 5 February 2009 the applicant’s representative asked the prison authorities to transfer the applicant, for safety reasons, to another shared cell with homosexual prisoners. In support of the request, he specified that his client had been intimidated and bullied by his fellow inmates. According to the record of his statement drawn up the same day and signed by two prison warders and the applicant, the latter made the following statement:
“I am currently living in block no. 6. I have a homosexual condition (“eşcinsellik hastalığ”). When my fellow inmates found out about this, I started having problems. I have informed the prison governor about the situation through my lawyer. I wish to be transferred to a block adapted to my situation.”
9.  On 5 February 2009 the prison authorities decided to place the applicant on his own in an individual cell. The record of that decision contains the following passage:-
“... the prisoner, who has said he has a homosexual condition, has been placed in an individual cell instead of his current block.”
10.  The applicant stated that the cell in which he had been placed measured 7 m², with living space of no more than half that. It had a bed and toilets, but no washbasin, was very poorly lit and very dirty and rat-infested. The applicant said that there were ten other cells of the same type that were intended for solitary confinement as a disciplinary measure or for inmates accused of paedophilia or rape. After he had been put in an individual cell on 5 February 2009, the applicant was deprived of any contact with other inmates and any social activity. He had not been permitted any outdoor exercise and had been allowed out of his cell only to see his lawyer or attend hearings held approximately once per month.
11.  The Government did not dispute those facts. They specified that the cell had been equipped with the furniture and facilities necessary for day-to-day living, such as lighting, toilets, a bed, wardrobe and chair. They explained that the applicant had been alone in the cell until another homosexual prisoner had arrived at the prison.
12.  On 21 April 2009 the applicant lodged a request with the İzmir public prosecutor’s office for the measures against him to be lifted. He specified that he was a homosexual and not a transvestite or transsexual. On account of his sexual orientation, he had been detained in an individual cell without any contact with other inmates and without being able to take part in any social activity. He had been detained in those conditions for three months and had had psychiatric problems as a result. He pointed out that in the Turkish prison system only inmates who had been sentenced to whole-life imprisonment were detained in similar conditions. He requested equal treatment to other inmates.
13.  On 7 May 2009 the applicant lodged a further request, through his lawyer, with the İzmir Post-Sentencing Judge, who also had responsibility for monitoring conditions of pre-trial detention, seeking an end to his solitary confinement and a return to ordinary conditions of detention. He stated that there had been no basis for placing and keeping him in solitary confinement and that he had suffered detrimental and irreparable psychological effects as a result. He maintained that these inhuman and degrading conditions of detention had been imposed on him solely on the basis of his sexual orientation, on the pretext of protecting him from bodily harm. He had never asked to be put in cells with other inmates; his complaint was about the fact that for more than three months he had been unable to go outdoors and that the only person he had been able to talk to had been his lawyer. He requested equal treatment to other inmates, with the possibility of outdoor exercise and social activities with other inmates, by means of measures protecting his physical integrity. He observed further that the matters of which he complained amounted to a violation of Articles 3, 5, 6 and 8, taken in conjunction with Article 14 of the Convention.
14.  On 25 May 2009 the Post-Sentencing Judge decided, after merely examining the file, that it was not necessary to decide the applicant’s claim on the merits. In doing so, he observed in particular that the applicant was not a “convicted prisoner” but was merely in pre-trial detention and that the practice of the prison authorities was in conformity with the law both in form and substance. He noted that the prison authorities had a discretionary power as Law no. 5275 on the execution of sentences and security measures did not contain specific rules for taking account of the wishes of remand prisoners regarding their placement in prisons, as was the case for the placement of convicted prisoners. He held, inter alia:
“... it has been established that the applicant is being detained as a preventive measure in an individual cell as the State cannot run the risk of a transvestite being lynched [in a prison] ...”
15.  On 29 May 2009 the applicant challenged that decision before the İzmir Assize Court. He stated in his pleadings that he had been placed in solitary confinement twenty-four hours per day in Buca Prison on no legal basis and that he had been deprived of any contact with other inmates or outdoor exercise. Drawing attention to his age and psychological condition, which had significantly deteriorated since he had been kept in solitary confinement, he explained that he was unable to endure such conditions of detention. He also stated that, notwithstanding the pretext that his physical integrity was at risk on account of his sexual orientation, the fact that he had been placed in solitary confinement was a highly inappropriate measure in his regard. He again requested equal treatment to other inmates and to be allowed outdoor exercise and social activities with other inmates, by means of measures capable of securing his physical integrity.
16.  On 4 June 2009 the Assize Court dismissed the challenge, after receiving the prosecutor’s opinion concerning the applicant’s request, without holding a hearing and without first communicating the prosecutor’s opinion to the applicant. The Assize Court confined itself to ruling that the Post-Sentencing Judge’s decision was in conformity with the law.
17.  During a hearing held on 12 June 2009 in another set of criminal proceedings against the applicant, the 5th Chamber of the İzmir Assize Court decided to send a letter to the Buca prison authorities requesting them to take all necessary measures regarding the applicant’s complaints about his conditions of detention.
18.  On 8 July 2009 the İzmir public prosecutor’s office transferred the applicant to Manisa Psychiatric Hospital for an assessment of his mental state.
19.  From 8 July to 12 August 2009 the applicant was kept under observation at Manisa Psychiatric Hospital. The parties did not provide any precise information about that period in hospital. On 12 August 2009 a medical report was drawn up by three psychiatrists. According to that report, the applicant suffered from a homosexual identity problem (“eşcinsel kimlik bozukluğu”). It also said that the suffering related to his conditions of detention corresponded to symptoms of reactive depression. It was decided that future psychiatric problems could be treated at the prison. The applicant was sent back to Buca Prison.
20.  From 8 August 2009 another homosexual inmate was placed in the applicant’s cell.
21.  On 11 November 2009 the prison authorities decided to separate the two prisoners. From that date the applicant was again deprived of any contact with other inmates.
22.  On 26 February 2010 the applicant was transferred to Eskişehir Prison and placed in a standard cell with three other inmates where he was given the same rights as other prisoners, such as outdoor exercise, sporting activities, regular contact with other inmates, and so on. According to his lawyer, the applicant still suffered from psychological problems – particularly depression and insomnia – on account of his previous solitary confinement at Buca Prison; he was taking anti-depressants and other medicines to calm him down and help him sleep.
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